


No Heart Swells

by LateSpring



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkward Flirting, F/F, M/M, Noct and Luna aren't royalty, Prom and Aranea are punk buddies, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 08:53:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16405223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LateSpring/pseuds/LateSpring
Summary: “Wow.” Aranea breathed. “Did you see that girl?”“Yeah,” Prompto let out an almost choked noise. Clearing his throat before continuing, “but, did you see the guy she was with?”Prompto and Aranea's plans to have a mellow night of loitering are interrupted.





	No Heart Swells

“What’d you get on that midterm?” Aranea asked after a careful exhale of smoke.

“A 98. A lot better than I thought I did.” Prompto replied with a small smile as he took a sip of his soda.

Aranea nodded with a proud grin shot his way. They were at their usual haunt, squatting just outside their local convenience store. It was starting to get cold as the evening turned into night, but he knew they had at least until Aranea finished her cigarette before they’d head home. He was still getting used to calling it his home, but it was nice. It was like actually having a family to come back to. Honestly, he never would’ve expected this when he met her all those years ago.

Aranea had become a real big sister to him back when he’d been struggling as a teen without any real support group. He’d dabbled in the punk lifestyle for a little while before meeting her one night in a hole-in-the-wall venue. She was the one who brought him into her group, taught him how to balance the lifestyle with his everyday life without getting into too much trouble. Sure, he’d still get into stupid shit, but he always had someone more responsible keeping an eye on him and making sure he stayed safe. She even tutored him and actually cared if he was doing his best in school. 

Prompto never really felt prouder of himself than when Aranea beamed at him when he told her he’d been accepted to a local college to study photography. It was night and day compared to the dismissive reaction he’d gotten from his parents over the phone. It was even more of a shock when Aranea offered him a place to stay, giving him a permanent escape from the terminally empty house he’d grown up in. Prompto decided he could stand to wait a little longer out in the cold tonight if Aranea wanted to. 

They’d been winding down from a stressful week. A high-octane weekend of live shows and drinking seemed like too much for either of them lately. Aranea’s work schedule had been especially heavy and combined with Prompto’s midterms wrapping up they barely had the energy to hang out with each other let alone with the other two regular members of their group: Biggs and Wedge. It was honestly just easier loitering around where they could keep a steady supply of snacks without having to wander too far from home.

Though, Prompto knew from the looks he got from strangers walking into the store that their low-key night seemed more insidious to anyone passing by. He'd gotten used to it, but, he didn’t see how anyone could see him as threatening. He felt like the freckles offset anything his studded, patched vest and combat boots gave him in terms of a so-called dangerous aura. But, he also guessed it might have to do with the weird energy that rolled off Aranea even without the heavily studded leather jacket she was currently wearing. It made her seem so much bigger than she was despite being shorter than most.

As if to prove his own point, a pair of footsteps snapped Prompto out of his train of thought. He meant to only glance up at who was coming, but found himself doing a double take and could feel Aranea next to him do the same. They were unfairly gorgeous, and clearly made of money from how they were dressed. The woman was dressed in a formal, but sleek white dress, her blonde hair delicately bouncing with each step in an intricate ponytail. The man at her side was equally well-dressed in a pitch black suit, his top buttons undone and tie loosened to signal the end of a long day. His hair was perfectly imperfect, in that way movies try to convince you was real bed head and not an hour’s worth of time in a styling chair. 

Prompto felt his jaw was starting to hang open when the man suddenly met his gaze. He knew he was staring, all his attention fixed on this passing pair to the point he almost dropped his drink. Prompto could see the subtle way the man reached a hand to the small of the woman’s back to guide her even the slightest bit faster towards the automatic doors of the convenience store while giving a polite, but nervous smile Prompto’s way.

Well, at least this stranger was nice enough to not completely ignore them, but Prompto couldn’t really find it in himself to dwell on anything besides _wow, that guy was even cuter when he smiled_. The ethereal strangers quickly entered the store, leaving Aranea and Prompto alone. They stayed silent for a moment. Aranea seemed just as dazed as he was, but she was the first one to recover.

“Wow.” Aranea breathed. “Did you see that girl?”

“Yeah,” Prompto let out an almost choked noise. Clearing his throat before continuing, “but, did you see the guy she was with?”

“We have to do something.” Aranea declared. She stood up, crushing her cigarette under her heel.

Prompto stood after. “What? There’s no way they’d- wait. No, what if they’re on a date? They’re totally on a date!”

“I got a vibe. Just trust me. Come on, let’s tag team.” She held out her fist.

All Prompto could do was sigh as he reached out to tap it with his own. There was never any reasoning with Aranea when she has a ‘vibe.’ And, honestly, if she was right and he could get to know Mr. Business-Goth….

Well, weirder things have happened.

Aranea was already making her way to lean against the bike rack behind them. Oh Gods, she was really working hard to seem cool for this one. Prompto did his best to follow suit, although, knowing Aranea the whole illusion would be broken the second either of them said anything. Aranea was always the picture of cool until she tried to _actually_ flirt. Unfortunately for him, he could sympathize. Prompto took a deep breath. At least their clumsy pick-up lines would cut through their intimidating image, right?

Once he was settled and he rehearsed a few greetings in his head, the tell-tale jingle of the automatic doors opening and the click of high heels on asphalt kicked Prompto’s anxiety into full force.

_I don’t think I can do this_ , the panicked thought continued to repeat in his head.

“Hey,” Aranea called out.

She almost had a passing, easy smirk, but Prompto knew better. There was a nervous edge to it. They were going to crash and burn. He’d be lucky if he ever forgot what was probably going to be one of his more embarrassing tries at seduction in his short life.

“Hello,” an accented voice replied.

Here it comes. Wait, wow this girl even _sounded_ out of his league. Prompto made a quick note to be thankful he hadn’t fallen immediately for her out of the pair of strangers. Until he noticed the baffled expression on the man beside her. He was even handsome when he clearly had no idea what the hell was going on. Amazing.

“So, what’s a girl like you doing out on a night like this?” Cheesy! That was so not smooth! Even he could tell! But, at least Aranea sounded close to confident saying it. Prompto had to hold in a groan, when, suddenly.

“Nothing in particular. Why, did you have something in mind?” The blonde woman answered with a real, genuine smile.

Prompto couldn’t believe someone really took that bait. But, Aranea was gorgeous in her own way, almost scarily so. If anyone could score a date no matter how embarrassing they were it was her. This still wasn't the worst attempt he's seen. He knew he had to follow up with his own move while he still had a chance, but his brain was scrambling. He tried to flash a smile and pull the man’s attention while he was still mystified into silence by Aranea’s awkward display.

“What about you?” Prompto did his best to sound confident. He didn’t think it would work and was already mentally kicking himself, but the man finally looked at him.

“What?” The stranger breathed, sounding too good for someone so confused. It wasn’t fair, Prompto thought, how easily he could be taken in by someone so quickly with each new feature he learned.

“Uh,” honestly, Prompto didn’t expect to have to clarify his vague question. “Like, how’s your night been?” _Really?_ Prompto internally yelled. He should've thought this out better.

“Fine, I guess?” The stranger looked as nervous as Prompto felt. 

If only the ground would just swallow him and put him out of his misery. He needed a response, any sort of follow up.

"That's good. Sorry you got stopped by a couple of low-level delinquents on your way home." The weak joke was out of Prompto's mouth before he could think it through. It wasn't actually funny, but at least it was a better ice breaker, right? 

"I-it's okay." The man almost... laughed? Prompto could see a very brief, small smile appear on his face. He wondered if he could say something to see it more clearly. 

“Noctis,” the blonde woman snapped the both of them out of their awkward conversation, if it could be called that. “Aranea here has invited the four of us to get drinks together, is that alright?” She continued. It sounded more like an insistence than a question.

“Wait, Luna, we can't. Tomorrow-” But the woman, Luna, only cut him off with a gentle hand on his bicep.

“It’ll be fun, you said you wanted a break anyway. Live a little!” This seemed to be a discussion the pair had had a few times before from the way the man Prompto now assumed to be Noctis wilted at her words.

“One drink.” He murmured seriously.

Wait, was that an agreement? Did that mean Aranea’s plan actually worked and Prompto was going to get a second chance at this? It almost felt unfair considering he didn't really do anything to earn it. Still, he felt a mix of excitement and anxiety at the idea. The concept of going out for a drink with the pair of almost regal strangers in some sort of weird, unofficial group date was almost too much. And the realization that he'd be spending an extended amount of time with Noctis in his ridiculously expensive looking suit suddenly made Prompto very aware of how he was dressed in comparison. It didn't help knowing the closest bar was a trashy dive he was unfortunately a regular at. Prompto wanted to hope that he could make a better impression when he and Noctis were only tagging along with the girls at best. But, so far Noctis hadn't been openly mean to him, so maybe he did have a small, minuscule chance to at least be on friendly terms with the guy. He decided to try and focus on that and the one, tiny smile he'd gotten just now before he could keep overthinking.

“There’s a good place around the corner, come on.” Aranea moved away from the bike rack, placing an overly friendly arm around Luna’s shoulders as they set off.

She flashed Prompto a triumphant smile. Still too deep in his thoughts, all he could do was fall into step beside Noctis, who still nervously watching Luna, as Aranea led the way. 

**Author's Note:**

> This started as a joke with a friend about Prompto and Aranea being useless punk delinquents who fall in love too easily, but spun out of control.  
> This is my first fic ever and the first time I've written since high school or even outside of school tbh. It was a fun experience though I had to relearn a lot of things lmao hope it doesn't suck.  
> I want to keep trying since it was fun so hopefully soon I'll be able to post more as I keep practicing!!


End file.
